AFTER completing a hat-trick of event wins in round four of the championship at Knockhill last month, MSA British Rallycross Champion Dermot Carnegie heads to Croft this weekend hoping to further extend his winning streak.

With the misery of early retirement from round one of the championship, where the engine in his Ford Focus WRC failed during practice, now well and truly behind him, the Dubliner has been busy cutting into the championship points lead of Ulsterman Lawrence Gibson.

After taking the championship lead in round two, a useful blend of speed and reliability has kept Gibson ahead of the pack, three seconds and a third place from the first four rounds of the year leave Gibson and his MG Metro 6R4 Supercar on top of the championship tables with 375 points.

John McCluskey (Dublin) currently holds second place, but is under pressure from Carnegie who is now just three points behind his compatriot in third place.

Meanwhile, competitors in all four main classes are eligible to score points in the concurrent BRDA Rallycross Championship and the series lead is currently shared by two drivers who have yet to be beaten in 2004.

With four wins each to their credit, Stock Hatch racer Adrian Horsley of Redcar and Minicross driver John Binks of Gosforth share the championship lead heading to their home round.

The Junior Rallycross Championship completes the programme of events at Croft. In its second year, the series, for drivers between 14 and 16-years-old and driving one-litre Minis with a tightly controlled technical specification, continues to grow in popularity with 21 drivers having scored points so far this year.

Leading the championship after four rounds is Ash Davies of Cwmbran who has finished on the podium in every event so far this year and who edged ahead of Jonny Greer of Belfast in round four to take the championship lead by ten points.

Blob Drivers of Minis or any model of Lotus can benefit from a special ticket offer at round five of the MSA British Rallycross Championship at Croft .

The British Rallycross Drivers Association, which organises the British Rallycross Championship, and Croft Circuit have teamed up to offer drivers arriving at the event in the chosen type of car one free adult admission ticket for each similar ticket bought.

BOLDON-BASED Gary Robertshaw is leading in the John Cooper Mini Challenge Championship after two battling performances in rounds four and five of the series at Castle Combe last weekend.

Riding high after his first win at Donington Park two weeks ago Robertshaw arrived at the Wiltshire circuit looking to build on the momentum built up at the previous round and after qualifying in fifth place for the first of the two races he found himself badly baulked during the opening laps and fell back to seventh place. Although he was struggling with the handling of his car Gary battled back to third place which he had to defend vigorously to the chequered flag.

In race two, held later in the day a rain shower soon after the start was slowly wetting the track which caught Robertshaw out spinning him down to 23rd and last place in the field. Gary was then to mount an amazing fight back through the pack to finish in fourth place with the leading trio in his sights as the chequered flag fell at the end of the race.

Robertshaw said "We struggled for grip in the first race and, after being blocked at the start, I was happy with third place. In the second race we had the car sorted, but for the spin this would have been a win. It was my mistake but I was really pleased with the result and the way I drove the second race".

The results elevate Robertshaw to the top of the championship standings with a six-point lead after five of the 12 rounds. The next round of the championship takes the Robertshaw Racing Team to Croix en Ternois in France where Gary will be looking to extend his championship lead.

Published: 18/06/2004